


here comes the sun

by wonnietv (heoneybee)



Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Joohyuk Bingo, Kindergarten Teacher Jooheon, M/M, Single Parent Minhyuk, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 19:25:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16750156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heoneybee/pseuds/wonnietv
Summary: it’s only six in the morning when a man drags a screaming child through the door. jooheon blinks and reaffirms inside his head that the word ’drag’ is really the only appropriate one to use, considering that the girl is clinging to his pants and the man is bleary eyed and wobbling closer like pirate with one wooden leg.“hi.” he slurs and smiles and through the bone deep exhaustion that’s settled into jooheon’s body, he forces himself to smile back and crouch down.





	here comes the sun

**Author's Note:**

> here's my fill for my first bingo square "single parent" uwu

it’s only six in the morning when a man drags a screaming child through the door. jooheon blinks and reaffirms inside his head that the word ’ _drag_ ’ is really the only appropriate one to use, considering that the girl is clinging to his pants and the man is bleary eyed and wobbling closer like pirate with one wooden leg.

“hi.” he slurs and smiles and through the bone deep exhaustion that’s settled into jooheon’s body, he forces himself to smile back and crouch down.

“well, hi there. i see someone’s a little… reluctant to let go.”

“yeah.” the man laughs, warm and friendly and gently attempts to nudge the girl off him. “big first day. we had a small argument at home because i lost one of her favourite hair ties.” the girl purses her lips and nods her tiny head once before planting her cheek right back against the man’s leg.

“oh, no! not one of your favourites.” jooheon says in the overly dramatic way he tends to talk to most of the younger kids. the girl doesn’t say anything, but her lips purse further. jooheon thinks that’s probably a start. “was it a pretty, glittery one?” he asks with sympathy and watches the girl nod again, her tiny fingers tightening in the material of the man’s pants like she once again realised the deeply rooted sadness of her loss. the man seems to realise too, the moment her bottom lips starts to quiver the slightest bit and jooheon knows that a change of topic is long overdue before the girl starts to cry again.

“oh— i haven’t introduced myself yet, i’m teacher honey.” he smiles brightly at the girl before glancing up towards her father, “and this pretty, young lady must be sominnie, right?”

“yeah, this is our sominnie.” the man says proudly and smoothes a hand over her silky hair, “she’s a big girl already so she’s joining you today.”

“we’re so happy to have you, sominnie! do you want to come with me and look around?” jooheon asks and shifts onto his feet, one of his hand stretched out in offering towards the girl. she let’s out a tiny whine and shakes her head right into her father’s leg with a stubbornness and intensity that can only be found in children younger than five.  
“and how about…” he starts and leans closer as if he’s about to share a secret, “how about if i give you a pretty, sparkly hair tie? i have _loads_  of them! and you can choose whatever colour you like. how does that sound?”

somin thinks, blinks her pretty eyes a few times before reluctantly releasing the man’s leg and reaching out to grab two of jooheon’s fingers. an especially soft and gooey coo is stuck right at the back of his throat when she looks up at him with the pursed lips and dark eyes, a bit like a sleepy cat. he’s distracted enough by the adorable girl he almost misses out on her father shifting and clearing his throat.

he looks even more tired when jooheon looks up again, almost as if some of his energy seemed to have come from the girl’s very existence alone and now that she released him, the warmth and sunshine left with her. he forces a smile still and points a thumb over his shoulder, towards the door.  
“i’ll be back to pick her up around four.” and a bit softer he adds: “i left my number with one of the other teachers, please call me if anything happens.” jooheon nods and mumbles a quiet ‘of course’ before shifting his attention back towards the little girl. her father’s behaviours makes him wonder if maybe he is the one who was nervous to let go for the big first day.

“okay, now! let’s get you that hair tie!”

*

it’s already deep into november, when the day is short and grey and the cold is biting at red cheeks. they had ushered the kids in for arts and crafts, cleaned up, shared a snack. the parents already started arriving and picking up their children and by 5pm the colourful space of the main room is almost completely void of people.

somin is still sitting in the tiny makeshift cave her and jooheon built out of large pillows and fuzzy blankets. she looks sad, understandably so, and all attempts of the other teachers to coax her out have turned out unfruitful. jooheon takes his time approaching her, carefully gets beneath the makeshift blankets to join her in the tiny cave. she doesn’t say anything when he knocks over the “wall” in the back and he’s grateful for it.

“sominnie, do you want to come out and play with me while we wait for your father?” he asks. the girl just shakes her head and continues digging a tiny finger into the pillow beneath her like it’s the most fascinating thing she has ever done. it’s a first for minhyuk to be late. in the three months that somin has been at the daycare, he’s always been more or less punctual — give or take a few minutes — and no call or message came to notify them that he’d be late. and more than an hour no less.

“i’m sure he will come soon.” jooheon tries to reassure her and rubs a hand along her back soothingly.

as if on cue, the door to the main room opens and a panting and sweating minhyuk is leaning against the door handle. his eyes search the room in a frenzy before turning into melted chocolate the moment they land on his daughter. jooheon can see him inhale every last bit of tension and exhale his stress before a blinding smile find its way onto his face. jooheon feels himself smile back subconsciously and turns to look at somin to hide the involuntary action.

the girl glances up through her fringe and her tiny bottom lip forms and equally tiny pout which means that whether he likes it or not, minhyuk is in trouble. jooheon watches her come to a stand and dust off her puffy skirt before marching over to minhyuk. when she stops in front of him it’s to stomp her foot and cross her arms and although jooheon can’t see her expression, he imagines it can’t be easy not to coo at her display of anger.

“sominnie!” minhyuk fake sobs and drops onto his knees in a dramatic fashion. jooheon has a hard time keeping in his laughter, but it’s impossible to fight the grin off his face. “your dad is so sorry. i had a really long meeting today and forgot to give the kindergarten a head’s up. i’m so sorry. will you be able to forgive me, oh most generous, most wonderful princess somin?” the girl lifts her nose in the air and turns away, just before minhyuk reaches out and pulls her back into a hug. the way he showers her cheek with kisses and she giggles and laughs warms his heart in ways it shouldn’t. he’s still just a teacher and in this moment he’s just an onlooker. there’s a halo of warmth and sunshine that surrounds them both and jooheon has only gotten to feel the brush of the edges, yet also finds himself wishing he could be amongst them.

*

jooheon is dizzy. his temples are aching, nose stuffy and breath foggy as it leaves his dry lips. the glasses perched on his nose have slipped down the bridge and to the very tip of it, but he didn’t dare pull his hands out of his pockets and let them battle the chilly wind.

the walk from his apartment to the closest grocery store is only fifteen minutes, but fifteen easily turned into half an hour with jooheon battling the wind, the cold and _a_  cold, topped off with high fever. by the time he walks through the automatic doors and into the warmth of the store, he feels like his nose has gone numb and he’s pretty sure there’s a drop of snot hanging from the tip of it.

he squints at his surroundings, through the warm haze that fills his head, and heads into the direction of the shelf where all the over the counter medicine and vitamins are. the only medicine he found at home is an aspirin that has long since passed the due date and a weird bottle with what he assumes most likely to be vitamins. when he reaches the shelf and finally reaches for a package too high for him to stretch for without getting lightheaded there’s a hand on his shoulder blade and cool, long fingers brushing his. jooheon’s too feverish and too congested to notice everything happening in more than just retrospect, but the package he wanted is being held in front of him and the hand on his back makes him feel more steady.

“are you okay, teacher honey?” jooheon registers that he hears minhyuk’s voice before he manages to turn his head and actually sees the man. his suit and coat look expensive and neat but the wind mused his hair and painted his cheeks and nose a bright pink.

“i’m fine.” jooheon replies before it even occurs to him how odd it is to meet one of his kid’s parents while he’s on sick leave. minhyuk smiles, but it’s a subdued and more polite version of the smile he gives somin whenever he drops her off and picks her up and jooheon longs to see his bunched up cheeks and oddly square teeth.

“you got a fever?” minhyuk asks and before jooheon can neither confirm nor deny, the other man is already placing jooheon’s medicine into his basket and adding bottles of vitamins on top. “i’ll help you with your shopping.”

“that’s not— that’s fine, i can do it myself.” jooheon mumbles, then proceeds to hide his face in his scarf to muffle a coughing fit. minhyuk looks at him with patience and a hint of pity in his eyes, but jooheon can’t bring himself to care when all that warmth in them is focused solely on him. the pit of his stomach fills with warmth and had his face not been burning up and pink already, he knows he would have blushed.

minhyuk is kind beyond what he would have to be; piles fruits and juices into the basket and slaps away jooheon’s hand whenever he tries to help carry something. he’s left trailing after him like all of his kids usually trail after jooheon and it’s both slightly odd and oddly comforting to have someone take care of him the way he usually takes care of others.

by the time minhyuk paid for everything and jooheon has stumbled out the grocery store, he feels more congested than before. there’s tears gathering in the corner of his eyes, his forehead burning and head heavy enough to feel as though it’s made from lead.

minhyuk curls long and spindly fingers around the crook of his elbow and walks close to him, at jooheon’s pace. he’s tall and well dressed and jooheon feels simultaneously like a starry eyed high schooler and a bag of potatoes next to him. he knows he looks a mess, from the flu and not having washed his hair or gotten out of bed that day, but all the other man does is flash him a sweet smile.

“you really didn’t have to do this.” joohon says, once they arrive at his front door. a second later he adds: “i’ll definitely pay you back for everything.” minhyuk seems reluctant to release his arm and watches jooheon wobble on his feet for a second before holding out the shopping bag to him.

“you don’t have to worry about it. the only thing you do need to be worrying over is getting enough rest so you can return to school. somin has been missing you a lot, teacher honey.” the thought of the little girl sulking and pouting because jooheon isn’t there makes him feel happy and worried at once. he’s happy to know that despite how reserved she seemed at first, he managed to win her trust and worried because he wasn’t sure how the other teachers would handle the rather quiet girl.

he wants to ask how she’s doing without him and if minhyuk has gotten any calls or complains, but his first croaked word is too soft and muffled and easily overpowered by minhyuk adding: “and i miss seeing you in the morning and in the afternoon, too. none of the other teaches smile at me quite so sweetly.”

“o-oh?” jooheon manages to choke out, unintelligently, his fingers curling around the plastic bag in minhyuk’s hands. the dizziness is getting to his head and jooheon desperately needs to sit down, but minhyuk is smiling, curious and mischievous and bright. jooheon forgets where he left his keys.

“my lunch break isn’t for much longer. are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” the other man asks. jooheon finally remembers to fish for his keys in the keep pockets of his jacket and finds them after a few seconds.

“i’ll be okay, really. thank you again for helping me out.”

“it was no problem.” minhyuk says, lingers, even as jooheon unlocks and opens his door.

“i’ll see you next week.” jooheon says and stares at the man hovering at his entrance.  
minhyuk’s face reads reluctance and just when jooheon looks away and is about to close the door, he finally speaks up.  
“hey, honey,” minhyuk starts, causing jooheon to look back up again. his heart is hammering in his chest, but minhyuk’s ears are pink, his mouth opening and closing. “get well soon, okay?” he finishes. jooheon nods mutely and watches as minhyuk finally turns and leaves down the floor and a long flight of stairs.

his steps echo off the empty walls and jooheon remains hovering for a second and wondering if it would be extremely inappropriate to ask him out for coffee next time he sees him. to make it up to him, jooheon tells himself as he closes and locks the door behind himself, nothing else.

**Author's Note:**

> i also now have a separate fic [twt](https://twitter.com/wonnietv) just for spoilers and updates as well as a [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/wonnietv) for questions n prompts!


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